U.S. Representative Terri Sewell, D-Alabama, presented a $250,000 check to the city of Homewood on Wednesday for stormwater improvements.
The funding was obtained through the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process. The funds will upgrade and expand culvert capacity in the residential neighborhoods surrounding Edgewood Elementary School to reduce localized street flooding and better protect surrounding homes and infrastructure.
Sewell presented the project funding check to officials at Homewood City Hall, along with a Congressional Record entry recognizing the city’s centennial.
In a video of Sewell’s appearance in Homewood released by her office, Homewood Mayor Jennifer Andress thanked Sewell for securing the funding along with an earlier investment in the city’s flood infrastructure in 2024.
“We just got through budget season, so it is really important to have any help we can with funding. And infrastructure is not really fun to spend a whole lot of money on. I want to build sidewalks and trails,” Andress told Sewell. “But [infrastructure] is very important, and so, to partner with you is so important, and we thank you.”
Homewood City Councilor Nick Sims, who represents the Edgewood area, said the funding would help boost property values and ensure flood insurance expenses don’t overburden city residents.
“It means a lot as far as property values in that surrounding area,” Sims said. “Just as an example, Griffin Brook watershed has been one that has flooded in the past, right, with the Crescent Apartments. So, it will prevent those crises.”
Floodwaters forced evacuations at Homewood’s Crescent at Lakeshore Apartments in 2017, 2020 and 2021.
Sims noted that Homewood’s classification under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Community Rating System improved in 2024 from Class 9 to Class 7, allowing residents required to carry flood insurance to save up to 15 percent on their premiums.
The funding follows an earlier $1 million federal allocation Sewell delivered in 2024 for a drainage culvert project along Homewood’s Griffin Creek. According to the city, that funding is still working its way through the required disbursement process, and the city hopes the project will begin in 2027.
Homewood has seen flooding during heavy storms as recently as June 2026.
In July, the city’s fire marshal notified residents of Homewood’s Park at Buckingham apartments that the building was unsafe due to water damage, including rotting wood caused by flooding, as well as other fire code violations.
Joshua Young, a tenant of the apartments, filed a lawsuit against the complex’s owners in August, alleging that they did nothing to address black mold in his unit after he moved in in 2024. Young also alleged that management gave him no clear instructions or timeline for leaving the apartments after they were condemned and that he “faces imminent displacement.”
